Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Maggie Sottero Bride for an Italy-Meets-England Interfaith Jewish Wedding at The Italian Villa, Poole, UK

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Sarah-Jayne and Emile, The Italian Villa, UK

Dreaming of Italy but grounded by lockdown? Take some inspiration from Sarah-Jayne  and Emile, who brought their love of the country to the UK in their (pre-COVID) interfaith Jewish wedding. Between their decision to wed at Poole’s The Italian Villa – a dead ringer for a Tuscan escape – adelectable Italian menu, and homemade limoncello favors, they truly created a little Italian oasis in Dorset!

We also love the way these two crafted a ceremony that was truly THEM. Their Jewish ceremony – officiated by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Paul Glantz, The Wedding Rabbi (who they found via Smashing the Glass!) – featured plenty of egalitarian touches: instead of the bride circling the groom the traditional 7 times, Sarah-Jayne and Emile each circled each other 3.5 times and did a badeken where not only did the groom veil the bride but the bride gave the groom a kippah in return – the pair even wrote and delivered a speech together!

These two were also ultra-attentive to their guests’ comfort and enjoyment, going out of their way to include special touches like a board game area and personalized kids’ packs for each child in attendance, featuring toys, snacks, coloring, and treasure hunts! All the love and joy of the day – not just the couple’s, but everyone’s – comes through so strongly in the beautiful photos from Ben Minnaar Photography and video from Mulhern Media.

There’s so much more we could say about this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave the rest to the bride, who looked lovely in Maggie Sottero…

Sarah-Jayne and Emile, The Italian Villa, UKSarah-Jayne and Emile, The Italian Villa, UKSarah-Jayne and Emile, The Italian Villa, UKSarah-Jayne and Emile, The Italian Villa, UK
How we met

Sarah-Jayne, the bride: We have been together ever since our winter ball in our first year of university. We were in the same halls and we had the most incredibly extravagant winter formal in a huge circus tent, complete with a fun fair, acrobats and real snow.

A rather drunk, but cute guy approached me (my now husband) and said he remembered me from a go-kart social months earlier and he had thought about me since as I had given off dream girl vibes, rather flattered I added him on social media and 10 years later (including 3 long distance) here we are. We got engaged in the Gili Islands on the beach at sunset, whilst visiting his brother and sister-in-law. We had a long engagement of 3 years to save up and we are so excited for everything to come in married life!

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Real Jewish Brides: Charlotte on The Wedding Buzz

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Charlotte will be marrying Adam on 25th April 2021 at Swynford Manor in Newmarket, UK. Click here to read all Charlotte’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Adam proposed to Charlotte on holiday in Cyprus (2) Charlotte and Adam met at work in London (3) Charlotte is a member of STG Brides Club!

CHARLOTTE AND ADAM
The Wedding Buzz

The Wedding Buzz, we all know the feeling: the excitement we get from the moment we say yes to looking at your first wedding magazine, creating a Pinterest board, showing off our new ring, waking up every day knowing you’re one day closer to marrying your person – and then something we cannot control comes along as it’s gone. As if the Buzz was never there and you’re left with a heavy feeling, a feeling of ifs and maybes and you just can’t budge it. 

I know from talking to other brides, both those who have have already postponed or like me, have planned for 2021 and haven’t had to postpone yet, that the loss of the Wedding Buzz is real. Oddly, it’s been a comfort to know that other brides feel it too. It’s strange to think you’re pleased other people have also lost the Wedding Buzz but nice to know you’re not over reacting or being over dramatic. 

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An Archaeology Student’s Zionist Jewish Wedding at The View of the Jordan, Mitzpeh Yericho, Israel

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We always love hearing how couples go about choosing their Jewish wedding venues – and Eliora and Nathan’s story is just so much fun! The bride, who’s finishing up a BA in archaeology and geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the groom, currently working as a security guard while he studies to be a tour guide, are passionate about ancient history – so much so that they knew incorporating it into their big day was a must!

Living in Israel, Eliora and Nathan are lucky enough to be close to Yericho, one of the world’s oldest cities – perhaps THE oldest, dating back over 10,000 years. So they opted to wed at The View of the Jordan in Mitzpeh Yericho. And the setting was far from the only personal touch the couple incorporated into their day: in honor of their shared commitment to Zionism, the pair opted for a blue and white color scheme, and even draped an Israeli flag under their chuppah so they could literally marry underneath it. And how sweet is it that Nathan played guitar himself to accompany Eliora’s walk down the aisle?! We can’t get over all the joy and emotion spilling out of each and every one of Herschel Gutman Photography’s incedible images.

These two also happened to get married in early March 2020, just as Israel was tightening up its COVID-19 restrictions – literally, new regulations were issued DURING the celebration. Lucky for Eliora and Nathan, that means they just squeaked by without having to make major modifications to their big day, though they did place hand sanitizer, gloves and wipes on every table as a precaution.

We’ll let the bride fill you in on the rest…

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Ancient History

Eliora, the bride: The hall we got married in is called The View of the Jordan in Mitzpeh Yericho. We chose it due to the location, close to Jerusalem where most of our family and friends would be arriving from. In addition I study archaeology and I wanted a hall near an ancient city, and there is no older city than Yericho, dating back about 10,000 years – in most academic circles it is considered the oldest city in the world.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Calla Blanche Bride for an Industrial Rustic Winter Jewish Wedding at King Plow Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

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We are OBSESSED with the urban rustic ambience Casey, an elementary school teacher at a Jewish day school in Atlanta, and Scott, who’s in sales at a security company, brought to their winter Jewish wedding. Taking cues from their super cool venue, King Plow Arts Center – full of exposed brick galore – the pair went for a country-meets-city vibe focused on neutrals interspersed with succulents and greenery, and we’re in love! Don’t miss theexquisite photos from Ember Studio and video from Rusticus Films.

And REALLY don’t miss Casey and Scott’s gorgeous ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Attias. Crafted in the artist’s trademark paper cut style, Noa crafted a modern piece in dark and light silvers that the couple now proudly displays in their home as the true piece of art it is.

We also love the couple’s sweet wintry wedding favors: each guest got a mason jar filled with hot cocoa, marshmallows and a personalized wooden spoon labelled with Casey and Scott’s wedding hashtag (@GREENEwontheGOLD) and a sticker on top that said “It Just Got Real. Enjoy something Hot, Love Casey and Scott” – cute!

Now over to the bride, who looked ravishing in Calla Blanche…

 

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How we met

Casey, the bride: We met on Jswipe!

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Real Jewish Brides: Maggie on Her Conversion to Judaism

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Maggie will be marrying Danny on 6th June 2021 at Stone House of St. Charles in St. Charles, Missouri. Click here to read all Maggie’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Danny proposed to Maggie on his birthday! (2) Maggie is in the process of converting to Judaism (3) Maggie is a member of STG Brides Club!

Blogging Bride Maggie and Danny
COVID-19 and wedding planning

The past 8 weeks have not been very eventful. As far as the pandemic goes, living between two states proves interesting when one state is still on lockdown and the other is fully open. Thankfully, I now live in the fully open state, so this has allowed me to find a job after getting laid off due to COVID-19. As a hotel manager my industry was hardest hit by this pandemic and after being laid off in March, my fiancé and I had to really consider what was happening with our wedding planning without my income. Fortunately, it only took 4 months for me to get a job making what I was before, so the budget of our wedding can stay the same.

Planning our wedding, though, has been very upsetting and neither of us really are excited to do it anymore. We have the big stuff planned like venue, photographer, videographer, florist, and wedding invitations, but we are struggling to talk to other vendors because of the impersonal interactions we’re having due to limitations on person to person meetings. An example of this: we cannot decide on a caterer due to not being able to try their food.

We have also run into another problem: vendors that are traditionally booked closer to the wedding date are now sending us emails saying that they are booking up around our date because of so many people rescheduling their weddings. This is causing the planner in me so much added stress that I do not even want to look into this stuff yet, let alone start booking.Continue ReadingContinue Reading